Dragon*Con–Day 1–Lines, Lines, Everywhere There’s Lines

 

Day one was supposed to start like last year, with a True Blood panel.  However, when we got to the location, about an hour early, the line was already out the hotel, down to the street and lapping around the hotel.  Melinda likes True Blood, but not that much.

The crowd on Friday, felt to me, like last year’s Saturday crowd.  That could have been because there were in fact more people this year, or the fact that last year, my mask restricted so much of my vision, I was never able to see the crowd.

We did a little people watching, but the Friday costumes were a little lacking.  Just a handful actually stood out.  I’ve got some pictures below.

Our second panel of the day was to meet the voice actors for Yoda and Ahsoka for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the wookie himself, Chewbacca, Peter Mayhew. We got to the panel about 2 hours early and were sixth and seventh in line.  When the panel started, the stars   introduced themselves and immediately opened the floor for questions. It was really awesome to see several kids, in costume, step up to the mic and ask questions.  The cutest was from a little boy to Ashley, voice of Ahsoka, asking her “How dirty did Ahsoka get when she was trying to escape from those lizard things in the woods?” The entire room went “Awwwwww….” all at the same time.  Ashley answered the question very well and was obviously used to dealing with children and not just rabid fan boys.  A bit later a slightly older boy stepped up and quickly corrected the younger boy by stating the actual name of the race of the lizard things.  Later someone asked where the actors stood on the really big question, did Han shoot first?  Peter gave the best answer of all time to that question: “I don’t really know. I didn’t see. I was on the other side of the bar finishing my drink.” Straight from Chewy himself.

After this panel let out, we had 30 minutes to make it to the next, a work shop on casting and mold making. We got to it 15 minutes early and the room was full. So it turned out that Friday would be the only panel we would get to see.

Now Friday night there was supposed to be a meet up of Bioshock cosplayers (people who dress in costumes).  I got a text late in the evening that it had cancelled, but we went anyway.  Subject Delta and Eleanor made their debut in front of the Marriott from 9PM to around 11:30PM.  The costumes were a big hit.  We didn’t dare try to go into the hotel, just because of the crowds and how bulky the costume was. This may have been a problem, because as of yet, I haven’t found any of the pictures taken of us in costume and we only came out of the evening with 2.  Also, unfortunately, the syringe portion of Melinda’s costume did not make the show. It sort of…well…fell apart.  One of the valves shattered, one of the gauges came off, and the worst and unfixable at con, was one of the straps to attach it broke lose.

While we’re talking about photographing cosplayers, there are a few rules people should keep in mind.
1) Always ask first. Now the exception to this is if there are a lot of people snapping pictures and you just jump into the pool, that is usually  acceptable. At least by me. However, if you want your picture made with the cosplayer, ALWAYS ASK.
2) If you are having your picture made with the cosplayer, please keep in mind that this is just a picture and not a TSA checkpoint. There is no reason to grab or grope the poor cosplayer. No matter how funny you may think it is to grab Subject Delta’s butt, it isn’t. Especially to Mrs. Subject Delta.
3) Be polite. If there is a certain pose you want the cosplayer to do, simply ask.  Shouting out “Hey Bioshock Dude! Lift your f*%king drill thing!” is not a good idea.  Unless you’re looking for a f*%king drill thing up the side of your head, or worse.

That all said, most people associated with Dragon*Con followed those rules.  The others that were either their for one of the other events or just their, they are the ones that need educating.

Subject Delta and a Bunny Splicer

I have no idea who she was, but she was awesome and her costume was great (even if she did sneak attack me here).  She saw me, screamed, ran up to me and gave me a big hug and then asked for some pictures. After that, she and Melinda struck up a conversation and Melinda told her about the aquarium gathering, and she actually came to it.

Subject Delta and Scientists from Aperture Labs

These guys were awesome. They had two Portal guns and we made the deal that Delta could hold one if they could use the drill arm.  Worked out well I think.

Other Costume Pictures from Friday.

Dragon*Con Day 0

 

Pre-registration Hell, take 2.  Dragon*Con’s typical attitude toward attendees seems to be, buy early, save money, wait in line forever; Buy day of, spend more, no wait at all.  Not the best attitude toward your customers, but they did try something new with bar codes for pre-reges this year.  We got in line at 11:45AM (it opened at 10AM) and the line was already the length of the hotel block, and within a half hour of no movement at all, the line wrapped around two sides of the hotel. The reason we were given for the stand still was that the computers went down.  Really Dragon*Con???  You have every geek and nerd in a 50 mile radius here and we can’t keep a simple computer system going?  *groan*  Still once the computers were back online, the line did move pretty well.  Our wait went from 4.5 hours last year, to just 2:15 this year.  A 50% reduction in time, including a system failure, is a pretty good improvement.  Many people ask why they don’t mail the badges to the members, and the given answer is due to forgery, but the unspoken answer is greed.  The same reason they don’t cap pre-reg sales.  Now the wait could have been even shorter, but, once I got to the end of the line, I was waiting for the next bar code reader to open, and I was removed from the line and taken over to the analog station where they tried to find me in the “Book”.  I waited there for a good 10 minutes, and they couldn’t find my name. So they moved me to another bar code reader station, where about 5 different things were going on at once saying they would have to scan to look me up (this whole time I was watching where my blue registration card was traveling like a hawk).  Then just before they were ready to scan my card, a guy claimed to find my name in the “Book”.  Credit where credit is due, he did find Kevin Martin, but after I left the area and was looking over my badge, I saw it was a Kevin Martin from Canton, GA not Knoxville, TN.  Now did I turn around and go back in and ask them to fix it?  Oh, Hell NO!!!  I’ve got my badge, I’m done.  I was not going to back into the gerbil maze and smell the funk of hundreds of sweaty geeks anymore.  If it bites me later, then so be it. Karma, but for now, I have a badge and that’s all I need.

Dragon*Con 2011 Day -1

 

Day –1 of Dragon*Con 2011.

We made it to the Ellis with no major incidents around 5:30.  Traffic was traffic, but not horrid.

When we pulled up to the valet station, Melinda got the valet and told him we may need 2 luggage carts.  When I opened the Santa Fe’s tailgate the  conversation went something like this:
Valet: WHOOO!
Me: Yeah, it’s a big box.

Valet : You here for the Dragon*Con?
Me: How could you tell?
Both laugh.

Even checking in, the lady at the counter looked at our luggage cart and asked “You here for the Dragon*Con?” 

So they’re a little surprised to see people staying here attending Dragon*Con, but they are prepared for it.

After we unpacked I checked the big box to see how much damage the Subject Delta helmet and others had suffered had suffered.  All in all its not too bad.  A tube has broken off the helmet. A couple of wing nuts off of Melinda’s Eleanor piece. And a bit of chipped paint that will have to be touched up.

And that is why you travel with a costume repair kit that includes: a hot glue gun and glue, paints and brushes, duct tape, zippy ties, Velcro, scissors, etc..

Our Tentative Schedule 
Wednesday – 9PM – “Hatchling” meet-up at the Marriott Pulse bar.  On Mondays they have the Dead Dragon parties for the survivors. Some thought that a Hatchling get together would be a good idea.

Thursday – registration opens at 10AM.  Hopefully have badges by lunch.
7:30PM – Celtic Block at the Hyatt. Celtic bands.
8:30PM – Yellow Ribbon Party at the Marriott. Party for showing support to service men, women, family and friends at Dragon*Con

Friday – Morning to Evening – Panels for True Blood, Star Wars Clone Wars, Costuming and Prop Making. No costumes being worn at this time.
9PM – Bioshock costuming meet up at the Marriott Fountain.

Saturday –  10AM Dragon*Con Parade
Morning to Evening – Prop making workshop, people watching.  Melinda will be dressed as Alice from Resident Evil : Apocalypse and I will be a Sandman from Logan’s Run.
7PM – 11PM – Bioshock photo shoot at the Georgia Aquarium with Irrational Games!!!!!

Sunday – Morning to Evening – Panels and workshops all over the place.  Costumes to be determined.

Monday – 10AM Top Gear Panel as part of the British media track, and then 11:30 – 3:30 ROBOT BATTLES 2011!  Then back to the hotel to pack.

Tuesday – check out, drive home.

I’ll try to post as the weekend goes, but as you can see, its going to be busy and all kinds of fun!!!

July and August–Dragon*Con Is Near

 

All right, July sucked.  I am really far behind (feeling it anyway) so I don’t have a lot of step by step pictures, but several done and done pictures or in progress pictures.  Plus as of this writing, Dragon*Con is 24 days away!!!!  Once again my poor time management, and life in general kick me around the block.  So sit back and enjoy…

Eleanor Lamb’s Big Sister Syringe

This one is complete.  I got the arm piece mounted, the gauges and eve tube added.

Subject Delta Helmet – Repaired and Aged

I hate gravity.  While getting the helmet ready to move into the basement workshop, it fell.  Cracked in several places.  Had to be patched, primed, re-painted, re-sealed with resin, and aged all over again.

 

Now though, it is finally done.  I aged it as well with some dry brushing to take some of the sparkle off it.

 

Subject Delta’s Tanks

The original air tanks and pack I made were too heavy and bulky.  Something went off with my scaling on this and the whole thing is huge, but the bulky pack only made it worse.  Plus after the fall, I was worried about the strength of the helmet to hold the weight. New cardboard tanks have been made and mounted.  The tanks still hold all the batteries, speaker, and iPod that the other did. I know they may not be perfect, but they work for me.  The fabric strips are there as a padding and will be cleaned up before much longer.

Subject Delta’s Suit and Glove

The jumpsuit/dive suit is nearly complete.  Just a little hand sewing and we’re ready to go.  The one exposed glove is also complete.  This is the glove that the Plasmid powers would be projected through.  I made both gloves, but only completely this one since I will be wearing the drill on the other arm.

 

Splicer Hooks

I did finish the commission I got for a pair of Splicer hooks, and I must say, I loved these.  They were a bigger challenge than I expected, but it all worked out and I have a very happy customer.

The slick trick with these that I struggled with was finding a way to ship and store them flat.  This is what I came up with.

Worked out well I think.

Other costumes

We’re not just going to take Eleanor and Delta to Dragon*Con.  We’ve got at least one other set we will be taking.  Still only two costumes is a low count for Dragon*Con, trust me.

We bounced around with a lot of ideas.  Upgrades to the Destro and Baroness from last year – OUT. Upgrade Baroness and build Cobra Commander – OUT. Rinse, wash, repeat.  We finally decided that to do everything in time for Dragon*Con, they had to be simple costumes with little prop work and minimal sewing.  I can do a lot of sewing in an afternoon, but the more complete we can find the garments to begin with, the better.

Melinda will be going as Alice from Resident Evil: Extinction

She has the shorts, top and boots, just have to make the belts, holsters and knives.  A quick Google search and I found all I needed on the knives and made a set from wood in just an afternoon.

Still have to stain the handles, but overall, I love these.

I’ll be doing a Sandman from the 1976 movie Logan’s Run.

I love this movie and I’ve actually had the Deep Sleep gun prop for a long time, so just need the tunic.  Here is my 2 hour, $8 Sandman tunic.

 

So, July was rough.  We went through a lot.  Personal life, family life, work life, all just seemed to act up on us.  One thing that did come out of July that I would like to draw more attention to is that we did rescue 7 kittens from a dangerous situation and are now trying to adopt them out.  They were in a place where they faced being tortured and killed.  They are now living quite happily in my basement work shop.  Having kittens does both improve my time in the workshop, because, face it, kittens improve everything, but they also slow me down and limit what I can do there.  So, if you are reading this, and want or know someone that wants a kitten, head over to The Romeo Memorial Rescue blog for more information.